Search Climate Insights Directory

The document examines the gap in climate change literacy in Africa, noting that while perception of climate impacts is high, understanding of human causes is low. It highlights a significant gender gap in literacy and argues that enhancing public understanding, combined with improved climate services and early warning systems, is essential for informed decision-making regarding livelihoods, infrastructure, and climate-induced mobility.

The report analyzes 2022 Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs), finding that while there are high-level references to the 'Leave No One Behind' principle and some improvement in human rights reporting, there is a persistent silence regarding attacks on human rights defenders and environmentalists. It also notes a shift toward technical working groups over high-level interaction with non-state actors and ongoing gaps in data availability for national plans.

The analysis finds that interactions between key SDG targets are generally synergetic at a global level when aligned with a 1.5°C climate target. Specifically, mobilizing climate finance and Official Development Assistance (ODA) and mainstreaming climate change into national policy are identified as the most beneficial objectives for advancing all other targets. The authors conclude that achieving these goals in tandem with the 1.5°C limit would strongly improve global resilience, adaptive capacity, and the reduction of poverty, vulnerability, and inequality.

The paper analyzes the Swedish public debate on green economic recovery in 2020, finding that while synergistic frames combining social, environmental, and economic goals offer potential for policy coherence, the lack of discussion on power dynamics and the existence of a temporal hierarchy of priorities may hinder sustainability transformations.

The document is an open letter addressed to President von der Leyen and other European Commissioners, calling for the establishment of a legal framework for sustainable food systems in the EU. The signatories argue that such a framework is essential to achieve the goals of the Farm to Fork strategy and the European Green Deal, and to address the threats posed by biodiversity loss and climate change to food security.

The report analyzes the voluntary carbon market (VCM), focusing on the opaque role of intermediaries and the lifecycle of carbon credits from creation to retirement. It identifies a lack of transparency in transaction data and pricing, noting that while project creation and end-user claims are somewhat documented, the movements of credits between issuance and retirement remain largely hidden. The analysis details the costs associated with different project types—renewable energy, household devices, and forestry—and the various fees charged by registries and intermediaries. It concludes with recommendations for registries and corporations to increase disclosure of account holders and retirement details to improve market trust.

The analysis finds that interactions between key SDG targets are generally synergetic at a global level under a 1.5°C warming limit, with climate finance and policy mainstreaming acting as primary accelerators for other goals.

Ethiopia is not on track to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, with poverty and hunger projected to increase due to conflict, pests, economic slowdown, and climate change. The report argues that sustainable food system transformation is possible within a decade if public investment is increased by USD 4.6 billion and targeted toward interventions that provide multiple development outcomes. It highlights a critical funding gap where long-term investments for Sustainable Development Goal 2 are significantly underfunded compared to short-term emergency food assistance, which increases the country's vulnerability to future shocks.

The guidance notes support the implementation of the IGF Mining Policy Framework across six pillars: Laws, Policies, and Institutions; Financial Benefits; Socio-economic Benefits; Environmental Management; Post-Mining Transition; and Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining. It provides specific recommendations for governments to regulate mining activities, optimize fiscal revenues, protect human rights and the environment, and manage the transition after mine closure.

The 2023 state of global environmental governance was characterized by a tension between significant multilateral achievements and deepening geopolitical fractures. While the world saw the adoption of the BBNJ treaty and the Global Framework on Chemicals, progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remains dire, with only 15% of targets on track. Climate action reached a milestone with the first Global Stocktake (GST) in Dubai, calling for a transition away from fossil fuels, though critics noted the absence of a full phase-out. Geopolitical tensions, particularly Russia's invasion of Ukraine, have hindered scientific collaboration in the Arctic and increased the use of voting over consensus in treaty negotiations. Financial gaps remain a critical barrier, with calls for a New Global Financing Pact to address the needs of the Global South.

The fact sheet outlines a framework for accelerating the Global Goals through science-policy-society interactions, the adoption of alternative prosperity indicators beyond GDP, and the realignment of global financial systems. It advocates for deep climate mitigation, the inclusion of Indigenous knowledge, and the strengthening of multilateralism to ensure high-income countries fulfill their financial promises. The recommendations emphasize a systemic approach to policymaking that accounts for intergenerational equity and the interconnections between society, economy, and environment.

The document argues that current global food production is pushing the planet beyond its natural limits, contributing significantly to deforestation, biodiversity loss, and greenhouse gas emissions. WWF proposes a 'nature-positive approach' centered on four strategic pillars: conservation of critical landscapes, regenerative and resilient systems, thriving people and communities, and innovation and influence. Key targets for 2030 include achieving zero deforestation from agricultural expansion and halving the environmental footprint of food systems by scaling circular and regenerative practices.

The report examines food wastage at the primary production level in South Africa, identifying environmental factors as the primary cause of food loss and behavioural issues as a key driver of food waste. It highlights a critical lack of baseline data, with fewer than 40% of surveyed farmers measuring their waste. While farmers are motivated by financial viability and moral responsibility to reduce waste, they face significant logistical, financial, and regulatory barriers, including high transport costs and strict export standards. The document recommends the development of centralised redistribution contacts and validated waste-tracking tools to help South Africa meet SDG 12.3.

The 2022 Climate, Environmental, and Energy Congressional Hearings Tracker catalogs hearings held by various U.S. House and Senate committees. The tracker covers a wide array of topics including the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, electric vehicle infrastructure, methane pollution, and agricultural resiliency. It details the specific dates and titles of hearings across committees such as the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

In June 2022, the WTO's 164 members reached a historic agreement to tackle harmful fisheries subsidies, marking the first multilateral trade deal centered on environmental sustainability. The process involved over 20 years of negotiations and was supported by a combination of impartial technical policy advice from the IISD and high-ambition advocacy from The Pew Charitable Trusts. To create external pressure, the 'Stop Funding Overfishing' campaign was launched, eventually gathering 182 signatories, including the World Wildlife Fund and Oceana. The final agreement, adopted at the Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12), includes prohibitions on subsidies for illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, fishing of overfished stocks, and fishing on the unregulated high seas. To ensure future progress, the deal includes a clause stating the agreement expires if a more comprehensive deal is not reached within four years of entry into force.

The document argues that current understandings of policy coherence for sustainable development are overly technocratic and ignore political drivers like vested interests and ideologies. To address this, the author introduces a framework centered on 'ideas, institutions, and interests' to analyze how these factors influence policy coherence across different stages and actors. The paper demonstrates the framework's utility by examining the coherence between the Paris Agreement and Agenda 2030, suggesting the model can be applied to empirical data at both national and global levels.

The study evaluates alkaline dehydration, nitrification-distillation, and ion-exchange with struvite precipitation for nutrient recovery in Malmö, Sweden. It finds that these technologies support Sustainable Development Goals, particularly nitrogen recovery, and that concentrating over 60% of the city's urine significantly reduces nitrogen emissions to surface water. Additionally, recycling 15–30% of Malmö's urine could meet 50% of the municipality's fertiliser demand.

The document assesses the potential for a cross-sector collaboration space in Geneva to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It identifies Geneva's strengths, such as the high density of international organizations and NGOs, but notes barriers including bureaucratic processes and a lack of accessible collaborative spaces in the Nations area.

The report evaluates Ghana's export processing zones (EPZs) across economic, environmental, social, and technological dimensions, finding that the current model lacks integration with broader industrial policies and neglects sustainability standards. Key gaps include a lack of low-carbon incentives, minimal technology adoption, and inadequate corruption controls. The author recommends the development of a comprehensive strategic policy by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the use of public-private partnerships for sustainable infrastructure, and the implementation of carbon finance policies to help Ghana meet climate targets.

The document outlines a mixed-methods approach to forecasting the impact of COVID-19 in Africa to 2030. It utilizes the International Futures (IFs) forecasting platform to compare three scenarios against a pre-pandemic baseline, focusing on economic growth, per capita income, poverty, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). This quantitative analysis was supplemented by qualitative dialogues involving experts and practitioners focusing on 15 representative African countries. The methodology included validation through a project reference group, questionnaires, and presentations to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and public health experts to synthesize inter-disciplinary perspectives.